PISCATAWAY, NJ – Members of law enforcement agencies gathered with religious and community leaders at the Rutgers University Visitor Center on Monday where Acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced $2.5 million in awards to help equip 176 police departments across New Jersey with body-worn cameras for their officers.

Under the program more than 5,000 body cameras will be purchased using criminal forfeiture funds, giving New Jersey the national lead in embracing this technology and serving as a model for police agencies across the country to follow.

The goals for the body camera program will help more New Jersey police departments promote transparency and mutual accountability, and strengthen trust between the agencies and the community.

In Middlesex County, police departments in Carteret, Edison, Highland Park, Plainsboro, South River, and the Rutgers University Police Department are participating in the attorney general’s initiative.

Hoffman first announced availability of the awards last July and invited police agencies to apply for the funds through county prosecutors. Since that time a limited number of body cameras have been used by about 50 police departments, a number of which have doing so as part of a pilot program.

“The funding will enable about 30 of those existing departments to acquire significant amounts of additional body cameras,” said Hoffman. “It will also enable another 145 police departments that currently have no cameras at all to equip their officers.”

Thirteen other police departments are using alternate sources of funding to purchase body cameras, bringing the state’s total to 208 agencies to be equipped.

Hoffman also said his office was able to meet almost every request by the participating agencies, offering $500 towards the cost of each camera package requested. “The overwhelming response we received from law enforcement to our offer of funding demonstrates that police officers are embracing this technology to protect themselves, assist them in their work, and foster stronger police-community relations,” he said.

The acting attorney general also said new statewide policies have been put in place on best practices for using body worn cameras. His office held numerous meetings with law enforcement leaders, civil rights organizations, and community advocates, establishing foundational requirements for police agencies to follow and allowing room to meet individual community needs.

“Public confidence in our police officers is inexplicably vital,” said Hoffman. “Police and community leaders have, without question, found common ground and maintain that body cameras are a win-win for this state, making New Jersey a national leader.”

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Registration is currently under way for the South Plainfield Recreation Buddy Ball Basketball Program. The free 6-week program, which will be held at the PAL with support from the borough’s Department of Recreation, will run in September and October. Experience is not necessary.

According to South Plainfield resident John Bentivenga, the Buddy Ball Basketball Program is ...

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Registration is currently under way for the South Plainfield Recreation ...

PISCATAWAY, NJ – At the start of training camp for the Rutgers football team at the beginning of August, there were a few notable position changes. But none were more eye opening and drastic than redshirt freshman Elijah Barnwell switching from offense to defense, from running back to linebacker.

Barnwell, a Piscataway native and Class of 2017 Piscataway High School graduate, was slated to be ...

PISCATAWAY, NJ – At the start of training camp for the Rutgers football team at the beginning of ...

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Earlier in the summer, the Medford Police Patrolman’s Association in Massachusetts contacted the SPD to let them know one of their residents would be visiting family in the ...

SPOTSWOOD, NJ – Lots of youngsters grow up loving the site and sounds of police vehicles and ...

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ – A one-car crash on Route 22 West and Central Avenue sent a fire hydrant flying in the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 10.

Following a preliminary investigation, Mountainside Police report at about 3:43 a.m., the driver of a 2003 Nissan Altima lost control of the car while it was traveling at a very high rate of speed around a slight curve. The vehicle then left the ...

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ – A one-car crash on Route 22 West and Central Avenue sent a fire hydrant flying ...

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - Mayor Brad Cohen has issued the following statement with regard to the fatal accident that occurred at Crystal Springs Family Aquatic Center in East Brunswick on Monday, July 30, 2018:

"It is with the deepest regret that I must report the passing of the young boy who was involved in the swimming accident a little over a week ago at Crystal Springs Water Park, East ...

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ - Mayor Brad Cohen has issued the following statement with regard to the fatal ...

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Arrested and charged with First Degree Kidnapping and Third Degree Assault are David Alex Villegas, 22, of Davenport Street; David Andres Villegas, 42, of Davenport Street; Troy Warren, 28, of Clinton Avenue, Newark, and ...

SOMERVILLE., NJ – A Somerville man and his two sons, plus a fourth suspect from Newark, have been ...

NEWARK, NJ - Daniel Castro put his head on the water bottle he clutched between his shackled hands as he sat on an airplane bound for detention centers, first in Nebraska then Louisiana. He resigned himself to the sobering fact he was being deported back to Nicaragua.

What worried him more than his return to the place he fled as a young teenager to escape poverty and political fighting, was ...

NEWARK, NJ - Daniel Castro put his head on the water bottle he clutched between his shackled hands ...

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Noel Ramiro Hernandez of Indianapolis, Indiana is charged with first-degree possession of heroin with the intent to distribute and third-degree heroin possession.

Members of the ...

ELIZABETH, NJ - A narcotics investigation led to a vehicle search that resulted in the seizure of ...